Lanzarote, my second visit to this venue, this time a more unscheduled one.
Yes, indeed i am a lot better than the Melbourne days (that was mistake) so i was ready to put in another race in my resume...
The plan was simply do the most with the least possible and the rest days where a lot shorter than usual witch i think would benefit me...
Always beautiful this island, i wont need to comment on how the bike course simply destroys everyone with hills, wind bad surface wind wind wind, sun, humidity, heat. this clearly stands out of the rest of the course.
Everything went well before the race, i was feeling healthy and there was nothing to concern about race preparations, i couldn't ask more than this. Race morning i woke up latter and had a huge "wake up evolution" shake topped with a simple toast. this was something that i wanted to try before a race. Took my time to the race site, and spent the least time possible there, but i did pumped my tires with a mini pump, now that's a good warm-up to the swim. Down to the real thing. The swim had virtually no separation between AG and Pros. In fact AG had an advantage since they could really build some momentum with the short beach run. I felt it right from the beginning. I tried to go as fast as i can but i really can sprint on the water (or on the bike or run for that matter) so i was quickly flooded with hands and feet and guys pushing my ankles on purpose (this really pisses me of). First lap was hard for all those factors, i got out with almost 27min and the second lap was EASY, i just enjoyed the ride to T1, i was out in 54 ish minutes.
Long run to T1 and out i went on the island tour. i was riding with Esben and latter vabrousek that caught up on us. I sure didn't want to rush things up and rode with them in sight to go through the first section with a """"easy"""" feeling. The feeling i had was that in the fast parts my effort was a whole lot harder than going uphill, So in the Volcano climb i kept my rithm up and made a short gap on the rest that eventually was bridged. Then Alvaro caught up, and another long climb, same story but this time it was me and alvaro that went away. I was feeling very composed and in control, Mr Vabrousek caught up a few kms afterwards and it was time for the BIG hill to las nieves, this one i decided to save some energy even when there was guys coming from behind and passing. Special needs bag was mandatory for me so i took my time with around 75km to go to have it. Technical downhill was good for me as i got away from alvaro and caught vabro and Agz fro the climb to mirador del rio. Tough cookie this one seems never ending and steep. as soon as we got there the trio i enjoyed the Long and fast downhill, aways good to have some fun. Vabrosek lost my tail and Agz got back to me in the flats down the hill, still a lot to go and a bit of flat roads where a good booster to recovery. Alvaro got back in the mix Agz was trying to get away and i certainly didn't do much to keep him close i just wanted to stay within me, Vabro was always behind and i kinda worried about his race plan...
The last 40km that includes another hill didn't do much, i really didn't care who would try to go away but at the end the gaps where close, i got bonus point the the most artistic fall out of the bike for sure, ouch. I lost some time with it but it could be a lot worse.
Run time, Alvaro got away with my artistic job and my ankle was hurting a bit too much. I started conservative and got caught by Agz, it was a big out and back followed by another shorter 2 lap course. Going out with head wind. as soon as i got caught i clearly tried to keep his pace until the turn around, then we would see how the legs feel. As soon as i got there i pushed the pace to a very fast one. with no time i passed Alvaro with time for a short chat. and then was all about what the other could do, i thought a top6 would be a decent day but half way through i was already in 4th this was where i started having my own problems as all the calorie intake on the run wasn't being absorbed and i was clearly dehydrated, everything was in the stomach and i could really feel/ear it sloshing around. at the beginning of the last lap i was close to 3rd so i hoped i could keep everything inside me, i wasn't forcing calories in for quite a few kms since it would do nothing good to me but my stomach was getting bigger and bigger ;) i was already feeling a bit dizzy due to dehydration but caught a fading Bert just before the last turn around. After that i was a mix of feelings "Im toasted/Im relieved to be in 3rd" got the best of me and just was concerned to get to the line. I felt Very dizzy and am not sure if i was running straight but i got there... just too bed i could go under 9h ;)
I am of course happy with the day, back on the podium always tastes good right.
Quick not to Marcio that won his AG and his brother Valdo that had a nasty crash but still finished in 10:17
More next week....
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Melbourne
Here i am at 3 am awake again for a few hours already after a 2h overnight sleep ;)
yesterday was a far from delightful day for me and probably the sum of several things that didn't work very well.
Race morning was cold like anticipated and there was some rain while traveling to T1. But the forecast really promised a decent day for racing, given how things where during the week it turned out to be an awesome day.
The swim Started at night, i really think this was bad organization, i mean how can we spot a buoy 1km away in the dark? its also true that its the same to everyone but obviously there's a lead kayak for the front packs, really poor organization there in my opinion, so getting to the first buoy was a sacrifice, i was in a group of 3 or 4 and we got lost somewhere and if it wasn't a boat with a flashlight that came to us pointing the way we would still be swimming ;)
i don't know how much time i lost there but when we got back to the right direction i was in a back of the group. i really didn't feel strong in the water like i have been feeling during the winter, i had a sluggish stroke but it was enough to stay in that group, with some light it was easier of course to spot the very few buoys that where in the course, i managed to stay in the group till the very end. and ended up leaving the water with the usual suspects, given that i wasn't feeling perfect that was good.
I lost some time in T1 but managed to bridge a gap to the big pack that formed after the swim easily. good bikers like Shortis, Anderson, Aernouts, among several others where there so i only needed to hang with them. i felt decent legs and the pace was within my "limits". i even managed to push the group for several kms, witch wasn't a good idea but everything looked alright, at the turn around we where roughly 8 9 min behind the huge lead pack and that looked good also. Coming back in slight downhill everything was going fine and i really started to think i was doing well on the day. nutrition was coming along perfectly even with several aidstations missed. But at around 130km everything went backwards, really, and all happened very fast, i was first struggling to stay in the group and then dropped with no power on the legs, yes i have experienced this in another races like Frankfurt last year but this was a whole different game. i still tried to keep distance to the group and did so for a long time but i was trashed and coming back was really painful. the bonus of the day was that i led Mr Bennet to T2 ;) and we actually had a chat while changing at transition.
i was really feeling no energy and started running just to finish the darn thing, there was not much fight about. It was all about patience to let the kms pass. couple toilet stop without any rush whatsoever not much to say other after passing half marathon i started naturally running faster and faster without much effort and did quite few kms under 4 min/km, i really don't understand why this happened... i finished 22nd under 9h whohoo ;)
Ok so definitely not a good day, leading to this race i was sure that i have seen fitter days, the build up to the race wasn't good and january/half february where bad months after being sick at the end of the year but i sure was fit enough to have a go tackle a VERY strong field. I had a very tough week particularly with the time difference and barely slept decently other than the first day i arrived, it got worse and worse during the week to the point where i only slept 2h in the nights before the race, and im sure that really didn't helped here. tough i will not make an escuse out of it...
But i sure am disappointed from coming half way through the world to make not such a good impression...
yesterday was a far from delightful day for me and probably the sum of several things that didn't work very well.
Race morning was cold like anticipated and there was some rain while traveling to T1. But the forecast really promised a decent day for racing, given how things where during the week it turned out to be an awesome day.
The swim Started at night, i really think this was bad organization, i mean how can we spot a buoy 1km away in the dark? its also true that its the same to everyone but obviously there's a lead kayak for the front packs, really poor organization there in my opinion, so getting to the first buoy was a sacrifice, i was in a group of 3 or 4 and we got lost somewhere and if it wasn't a boat with a flashlight that came to us pointing the way we would still be swimming ;)
i don't know how much time i lost there but when we got back to the right direction i was in a back of the group. i really didn't feel strong in the water like i have been feeling during the winter, i had a sluggish stroke but it was enough to stay in that group, with some light it was easier of course to spot the very few buoys that where in the course, i managed to stay in the group till the very end. and ended up leaving the water with the usual suspects, given that i wasn't feeling perfect that was good.
I lost some time in T1 but managed to bridge a gap to the big pack that formed after the swim easily. good bikers like Shortis, Anderson, Aernouts, among several others where there so i only needed to hang with them. i felt decent legs and the pace was within my "limits". i even managed to push the group for several kms, witch wasn't a good idea but everything looked alright, at the turn around we where roughly 8 9 min behind the huge lead pack and that looked good also. Coming back in slight downhill everything was going fine and i really started to think i was doing well on the day. nutrition was coming along perfectly even with several aidstations missed. But at around 130km everything went backwards, really, and all happened very fast, i was first struggling to stay in the group and then dropped with no power on the legs, yes i have experienced this in another races like Frankfurt last year but this was a whole different game. i still tried to keep distance to the group and did so for a long time but i was trashed and coming back was really painful. the bonus of the day was that i led Mr Bennet to T2 ;) and we actually had a chat while changing at transition.
i was really feeling no energy and started running just to finish the darn thing, there was not much fight about. It was all about patience to let the kms pass. couple toilet stop without any rush whatsoever not much to say other after passing half marathon i started naturally running faster and faster without much effort and did quite few kms under 4 min/km, i really don't understand why this happened... i finished 22nd under 9h whohoo ;)
Ok so definitely not a good day, leading to this race i was sure that i have seen fitter days, the build up to the race wasn't good and january/half february where bad months after being sick at the end of the year but i sure was fit enough to have a go tackle a VERY strong field. I had a very tough week particularly with the time difference and barely slept decently other than the first day i arrived, it got worse and worse during the week to the point where i only slept 2h in the nights before the race, and im sure that really didn't helped here. tough i will not make an escuse out of it...
But i sure am disappointed from coming half way through the world to make not such a good impression...
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Valencia Report
As i wait for the flight i wanted to have an overview of what happened in valencia.
The organization was splendid but i really didnt like the bike course...
The swim was good, the water was cold so i only warmed up outside, even so and in line with what has been happening in the pool i swam well, at the start the marshals said they would give an 1 minute to start call but all of the sudden everything started while i was mooving around to stay warm, with this i had to go through the field and man there are some unsortmanship around there, i was grabed in the hankles a good 5 times and pulled back, cmon, having a kick on the face or punch is part of the deal but this is too much. midway everything got smother and besides a small navigation problem from the 2 guys ahead of me that made us loose a few seconds everything was cool, like the water ;) i got out around 1:30 from the big first group with considering wh was there made me happy with the swim.
I settled to a very fast pace at the begining of the bike since i had legs to do that, the first few kms where smooth and everything was FLAT with 40 min or so i caught to a 10 or so group that remained stable until the wind picked up coming back, it was a loop with terrible surface and with so may 90 degree corners in the reservoir that it was insane with the wind the group splited and i was left alone in the middle. i renenber perfectly going at 300W while my speed was just above 20km per hour, it was insane. All the holes and vibration broke my bottle holder and by the last third of the ride my saddle clamp came loose i needed to ride seated the whole way or i would probably loose de saddle, with that many 90 degree corners and bad pavment it was a bit tortourous to make it worse the rear brake caliper rotated with a pothole \ vibration and started braking my wheel, something i only noticed after the race since with an aero helmet you cant hear much. with 15km to go i was caught by Santamaria group and tried to hang with them. something that was requiring me more than 300W at he end of the bike, i could only think how strong they where or probably it was the brake rubing the wheel, and those 3 extra kms of course (93) in head wind seemed like an ethernity :)
heading to the run i started well, just a bit behing santamaria but soon enough at the end of the 1st (of 3) lap i faded, i kept going till half way but i felt like i wasnt going to do well and honestely not being my objective and since the $ only went 5 deep i slowed down to finish with 4;17 in a flat but far from fat course. I believe if everything went wel i would have a shot at the prize money but really dont care. Later, when i was already in lisbon i found that i was disqualified and i really dont know why and i didnt have any penaly whatsoever but in all truth i dont care, it was a good workout and i enjoyed my swim and bike fitness despite lots of mechanical problems.
The organization was splendid but i really didnt like the bike course...
The swim was good, the water was cold so i only warmed up outside, even so and in line with what has been happening in the pool i swam well, at the start the marshals said they would give an 1 minute to start call but all of the sudden everything started while i was mooving around to stay warm, with this i had to go through the field and man there are some unsortmanship around there, i was grabed in the hankles a good 5 times and pulled back, cmon, having a kick on the face or punch is part of the deal but this is too much. midway everything got smother and besides a small navigation problem from the 2 guys ahead of me that made us loose a few seconds everything was cool, like the water ;) i got out around 1:30 from the big first group with considering wh was there made me happy with the swim.
I settled to a very fast pace at the begining of the bike since i had legs to do that, the first few kms where smooth and everything was FLAT with 40 min or so i caught to a 10 or so group that remained stable until the wind picked up coming back, it was a loop with terrible surface and with so may 90 degree corners in the reservoir that it was insane with the wind the group splited and i was left alone in the middle. i renenber perfectly going at 300W while my speed was just above 20km per hour, it was insane. All the holes and vibration broke my bottle holder and by the last third of the ride my saddle clamp came loose i needed to ride seated the whole way or i would probably loose de saddle, with that many 90 degree corners and bad pavment it was a bit tortourous to make it worse the rear brake caliper rotated with a pothole \ vibration and started braking my wheel, something i only noticed after the race since with an aero helmet you cant hear much. with 15km to go i was caught by Santamaria group and tried to hang with them. something that was requiring me more than 300W at he end of the bike, i could only think how strong they where or probably it was the brake rubing the wheel, and those 3 extra kms of course (93) in head wind seemed like an ethernity :)
heading to the run i started well, just a bit behing santamaria but soon enough at the end of the 1st (of 3) lap i faded, i kept going till half way but i felt like i wasnt going to do well and honestely not being my objective and since the $ only went 5 deep i slowed down to finish with 4;17 in a flat but far from fat course. I believe if everything went wel i would have a shot at the prize money but really dont care. Later, when i was already in lisbon i found that i was disqualified and i really dont know why and i didnt have any penaly whatsoever but in all truth i dont care, it was a good workout and i enjoyed my swim and bike fitness despite lots of mechanical problems.
Abu Dhabi report
No i didnt race Abu dhabi triathlon, altough i really wouldnt mind. I am in abu dabhi waiting for the next flight to melbourne.
To sum this off, its a true mess this trip, simply put, i was charged 2 times for my bike box in lisbon and in london, the caotic lisbon airport made me loose the original flight with several problem like computers that dont work, lines and lines to get oversized packs to be delivered and security guards that really don give a S^& about anything and just want thir paycheck at the end of the month. had to buy a new ticket in time to catch the london-Abu dabhi flight, lost my wallet in london while rushing to make a flight tranfer and had to look for it in the airport with the second flight just leaving and in risk of loosing another flight to kill the day i was asked to pay 300 pounds for my bike box when they actually conrfmed that they no clue where bike and pack was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????, its just insane and to be honest i was absolutely overwhelmed with all this. But i got to abu dabhi in the original flight that was late but had he chance to sleep a good few hours and have a short run to clear my mind, inevetably my run was so bad that i really just wanted to walk :(
But im better now, nothing can go worse but i do hope that all my stuff arrives in melbourne, they had almost 24 hours to fix this since its the time between flights.
To sum this off, its a true mess this trip, simply put, i was charged 2 times for my bike box in lisbon and in london, the caotic lisbon airport made me loose the original flight with several problem like computers that dont work, lines and lines to get oversized packs to be delivered and security guards that really don give a S^& about anything and just want thir paycheck at the end of the month. had to buy a new ticket in time to catch the london-Abu dabhi flight, lost my wallet in london while rushing to make a flight tranfer and had to look for it in the airport with the second flight just leaving and in risk of loosing another flight to kill the day i was asked to pay 300 pounds for my bike box when they actually conrfmed that they no clue where bike and pack was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????, its just insane and to be honest i was absolutely overwhelmed with all this. But i got to abu dabhi in the original flight that was late but had he chance to sleep a good few hours and have a short run to clear my mind, inevetably my run was so bad that i really just wanted to walk :(
But im better now, nothing can go worse but i do hope that all my stuff arrives in melbourne, they had almost 24 hours to fix this since its the time between flights.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
rides are getting shorter...
leading to australia,
past weekend report is still to come but this week has been really busy with the store move, ill try to report tomorrow ;)
Find more Bike Ride in Oeiras
Find more Bike Ride in Oeiras
Thursday, March 1, 2012
This is whats on the menu for tomorrow.
Ver mapa maior
Im driving with Vanessa to Valencia for my first triathlon of 2012!!! an half ironman that promises to have a very competetive field. looking forward to it. Last weeks have been good for me, except that i still suffer from that small accident earlier in the year. my chest still burns like hell but again i have nothing to do other than wait for it to disappear. Other than that small important fact, i have been putting together some good workouts and with the small relief i had from the chest swimming was a more satisfying experience ;) so, not much to report, work, workouts, work, workouts and sleep/eat somewhere in the middle. this is defenetely a good test leading to australia....
Ver mapa maior
Im driving with Vanessa to Valencia for my first triathlon of 2012!!! an half ironman that promises to have a very competetive field. looking forward to it. Last weeks have been good for me, except that i still suffer from that small accident earlier in the year. my chest still burns like hell but again i have nothing to do other than wait for it to disappear. Other than that small important fact, i have been putting together some good workouts and with the small relief i had from the chest swimming was a more satisfying experience ;) so, not much to report, work, workouts, work, workouts and sleep/eat somewhere in the middle. this is defenetely a good test leading to australia....
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Changing the sunday hour, 8am at the pool.
And this is the double metric century for tomorrow...
Find more Bike Ride in Oeiras
Find more Bike Ride in Oeiras
Friday, February 10, 2012
Classic for sunday
It might well be another classic route of mine, having some coffee at the far end of the route witch is basically Vanessas hometown, Rocha Forte ;)
Saturday, February 4, 2012
January
It wasn't a very pleasant month...
Training wise i had all sorts of problems and for most part of the month i felt off. Getting sick at the end of last year after a photo shoot wasn't good and after this i felt inconstant during the weeks and some times very tired. To kill the month i had a unusual accident while running when someone opened the car door right in front of me leaving no reaction other than hitting hard, very hard right in the middle of the chest. I'm still suffering from this, with pain but i have no chance other than live through the pain. My swim was definitely affected when i was feeling really well and pool times going down but like i said i need to go through the pain and hopefully in a few weeks it will be fine. It has been the bike where i had the most problems while the run form is soso. BUT it will get better or at least to a more constant state ;)
the month totals are
Training wise i had all sorts of problems and for most part of the month i felt off. Getting sick at the end of last year after a photo shoot wasn't good and after this i felt inconstant during the weeks and some times very tired. To kill the month i had a unusual accident while running when someone opened the car door right in front of me leaving no reaction other than hitting hard, very hard right in the middle of the chest. I'm still suffering from this, with pain but i have no chance other than live through the pain. My swim was definitely affected when i was feeling really well and pool times going down but like i said i need to go through the pain and hopefully in a few weeks it will be fine. It has been the bike where i had the most problems while the run form is soso. BUT it will get better or at least to a more constant state ;)
the month totals are
| Swim | 32:40 | 102,700 m |
| Run | 30:27 | 432 km |
| Bike | 62:00 | 2,008 km |
| Other | 1:05 | 0 km |
| Total | 126:12 | 2,542.7 km |
Saturday, January 28, 2012
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